Something must have happened in between.

Yao Yao sneered coldly, thinking that it would be best if they all received their retribution and Chong Yan’s body ended up in the mortal realm again.

Perfect, she could retrieve them all—his eyes, heart, and dragon spine.

“So, many cultivators are heading to Qiongyan Island in the Eastern Sea to participate in this grand event.”

“The Extreme of the Eastern Sea,” Yao Yao also remembered this important plot point.

Then her footsteps halted.

Chong Yan, who was silently following behind her, accidentally bumped into her soft back.

Yao Yao, however, didn’t dare to turn around for a moment.

She suddenly remembered that when she first explored the Spirit Continent in the game, before finding Chong Yan, she had given something to a game character who resembled her aesthetic preferences.

Of course, she only gave a few pearls.

No wonder she felt a bit familiar when she heard the self-introduction of the boy from the Lan family in the secret realm. That game character was the “God” worshipped by the Lan family and the entire Qiongyan Island.

It was a giant black sea snake, almost the totem of the entire Eastern Sea domain.

He was indeed quite handsome, but he was definitely no match for Chong Yan, whom Yao Yao had focused her attention on. She had forgotten about the sea god she had occasionally given things to.

Yao Yao swore to the heavens that after she found the little demon, she never went to see the big black snake again. She didn’t give a single rose she received from daily check-ins to anyone else; she gave them all to Chong Yan.

So the sea god surely wouldn’t remember either. Even if Yao Yao wanted to go with Chong Yan to the sea god’s domain to retrieve his heart, there shouldn’t be any issues.

That’s what Yao Yao thought.

But for some reason, when she lowered her head, she saw a silent movement from Chong Yan’s icy tail. It instinctively poked her hand, like an animal, then gently circled around her in a friendly manner.

She felt a bit guilty for no apparent reason.

Yao Yao coughed twice and turned to look at him.

Only then did she realize that Chong Yan’s footsteps had been slow all along.

Chong Yan stood there, his lips pursed in a restrained and pitiable manner, pale and pitiful.

It’s too noisy.

The outside world.

Not only were there various voices, but there were also countless indistinguishable smells.

In the past, Chong Yan could always sense Yao Yao’s presence, but now, he had to carefully distinguish her warm and clean scent from the smells of food, vehicles, and others.

All of this made the chaotic brain Chong Yan become restless and painful, and the bone spurs on his fingertips began to unconsciously grow.

Yao Yao realized that he couldn’t adapt to the outside world.

The last time Chong Yan saw a scene with more than one person was in the Naitian Secret Realm. However, that was still within the Abyss, in a place he was familiar with, and no one could see him. He wouldn’t be disturbed.

But now, the world was bustling, and people were surging in.

Children darted through the streets, accidentally bumping into him, causing sharp bone spurs to emerge as a defensive measure.

Because Chong Yan couldn’t distinguish whether this was an attack or not.

For most of his life, he had faced attacks.

He stood there, strong, guarded, and helpless.

And the people on the road were still proclaiming, “Times are hard, the deity causing chaos, monsters posing a threat to the world, it’s too terrifying.”

Yao Yao wondered, how could he be terrifying?

She, a small figure, looked up at the silent and towering Chong Yan, pointed to a small shop selling chestnuts and sweet porridge in the distance, and said, “Chong Yan, do you want to eat that?”

The terrifying existence that was said to “bring calamity to the mortal realm and threaten the world” silently looked at the sweet porridge for a while before nodding.

Yao Yao immediately smiled and said, “I’ll buy it for you.”

It had become a habit for her to buy things for the little demon.

However, after Yao Yao enthusiastically said those words, she searched through all her pockets and couldn’t find a single spirit stone.

Yao Yao faced reality and couldn’t help but feel sad. She had forgotten that she was poor. Oh no…

Every time her brother sent her off, he would always tie some lifesaving spiritual artifacts to her, but her brother wasn’t her parents and wouldn’t remember to give pocket money to a little traveler.

But it didn’t matter. Smart little travelers would find a way. She remembered that in childhood television shows, when the protagonists ran out of money, they would pat their heads, pull out a hairpin or hair accessory, and exchange it for money.

So Yao Yao patted her head and fortunately found a green jade hairpin.

She didn’t know if it was valuable, but she could use it as a decoration to look at.

The gaze of the divine and demonic chaos shifted over.

It was the pair.

A hairpin.

Yao Yao led the little demon and searched for a while in the market until they found a pawn shop. She went to the counter to handle things herself, leaving the little demon waiting behind. At that moment, she felt like a reliable little adult.

However, while she was talking to the shopkeeper, the imposing figure of the Chong Yan still loomed over, peering out.

“What do you want?” he asked.

For a moment, Yao Yao had a vision and glanced back to see what the person behind her was holding—a dog hook. She managed to hold back her laughter, but a smirk appeared on her cheek.

Chong Yan had no idea what she was doing or what this place was for. But she could see that she handed the hairpin to the person behind the curtain, who took it and gave her a few spirit stones.

The divine and demonic understood what was happening.

“You don’t want it anymore,” he asked about the hairpin.

“No, not anymore,” Yao Yao replied, pocketing the spirit stones and walking out with him.

They bought a bowl of sweet porridge and found a quiet place to eat together.

Yao Yao had no idea what Li Cangyan had said to the little demon, but she knew that the materials used for the hairpin were quite good, and she exchanged it for several high-grade spirit stones.

Now things were different. Yao Yao shook her head and sighed. It was not a time when anyone could casually spend money. This family needed her.

Chong Yan silently followed her.

In the mindset of a demon, she had lost the hairpin. Good.

They wanted to buy things, but they had no money. Not good.

Chong Yan lowered his head and looked at himself, pursing his lips in self-disgust.

Yao Yao happily bounced back after buying the porridge. She saw that the snacks sold in the cultivation world were quite exquisite, each packaged in a stylish box made of yellow rosewood. They had clever mechanisms that opened with a press, keeping the food warm and dust-free. It was truly an eye-opener.

She cheerfully returned and handed the food box to Chong Yan, asking him to hold it and drink in a quiet alley. She went to inquire about how to participate in the Canglan Grand Event.

Chong Yan stood in a corner, looking at Yao Yao in the distance, then lowered his head to look at the food box in his hand.

He had no idea what Yao Yao was asking others.

Nor did he know how to open this thing in his hand.

The brutal power of the ancient demon was feared throughout the Spirit Continent, but after three thousand lonely years of seclusion, he couldn’t even open a lid.

It seemed that violence and wildness were all he had. Besides that, he was worthless.

When Yao Yao came back after inquiring about the news, she found that Chong Yan had forcefully opened the food box.

He didn’t know about the clever mechanism that could be opened with a press, so he clumsily used his strength to pry it open.

But he hadn’t even taken a sip of the sweet porridge inside.

Holding the box, he obediently sat there, waiting for her.

Yao Yao blinked her eyes, feeling a soft sadness in her heart for some reason.

As an ancient god-demon, he was clearly the most special and supreme existence, but he had never been taken care of, loved, or experienced anything good.

Only coveted, framed, and dissected.

But it didn’t matter to Yao Yao.

She had been sick her whole life, but she had been loved abundantly by her parents, so she was a baby who understood love.

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Chong Yan slowly became somewhat flustered. The tail that had fallen to the ground quietly hid the lid of the box he had pried open with his bare hands.

Was it him who made it dirty?

She wouldn’t eat the porridge if it was dirty because of him.

Chong Yan’s fingers turned white, and he slowly pursed his lips.

But the young girl in front of him took out a spoon and scooped up the sweet-smelling porridge, offering it to his lips.

“Chong Yan, ah…”